There had been so much going on; planning, laughter, cooking, conversation, entertaining, frivolity, feasting, then nothing but quiet. The quiet of a household after a five-day party is often as unnerving as the commotion of a full to overflowing house. This painting depicts what it felt like when they all left. Quiet.

My family celebrated a fifteen-year tradition of Faux Thanksgiving over the weekend. Friends and family came to eat turkey and play for five days. It happens two weeks before real Thanksgiving every year. And every year it gets louder while they're here and quieter when they leave. For all of this, I am thankful.